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NJ Massage Training Center Director Presents At University HospitalRecently, Larry Heisler, M.A., R.M.T., director of the North Jersey Massage Training Center, was invited to conduct a presentation on medical massage therapy for the surgical staff at University Hospital (UMDNJ). The program was well attended and Heisler presented an overview of the massage profession and fielded questions from an attentive medical audience. Louise Mahoney, Director of Education at NJMTC, gave a demonstration illustrating the uniqueness of the Oriental/Medical massage therapy fusion developed at the state-approved school of massage.Heisler stated that the vast difference in the quality of education at NJMTC is because of its extraordinary staff of instructors. Each instructor at NJMTC is a dedicated master therapist with a minimum of ten years teaching experience, some with as much as 24 years. The two senior directors have performed over 75,000 massage therapy sessions combined. Founded in 1980 and located at the Parsippany Medical Complex, the North Jersey Massage Training Center offers a sophisticated massage therapy training that leads one toward state certification and prepares the student to sit for the National Certification Examination. Programs are offered both daytime and evening and the school is accepted for Workforce Development and Veterans Administration funding. A continuing education program is provided for the additional training required of massage therapists and other allied professions such as physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and cosmetologists. Both master and student level massages are available to the public and the schools corporate on-site massage team is available throughout the Northern New Jersey area. Daytime classes begin October 18, evening classes in January.Neighbor NEWS

Parsippany's North Jersey Massage Training Center Becomes Affiliated With University HospitalDirectors Larry Heisler and Louise Mahoney from the North Jersey Massage Training Center recently made a medical rounds presentation to more than 50 physicians and administrative staff at University Hospital. The prestigious hospital in Newark is the teaching arm of the New Jersey School of Medicine and Dentistry. The Parsippany-based, state-approved school of massage therapy will send senior students and graduates to work with the hospital's patients and staff."Our school opened in 1980; it has taken us many years for the massage profession to be recognized as an effective mainstream addition," says Heisler. "Although we have given hundreds of presentations to hospitals, universities and corporations throughout Northern New Jersey, the opportunity for our student body to learn at University Hospital is wonderful." Ms. Mahoney, co-director of education, added, "It has taken us 25 years to develop this unique and innovative program, combining Oriental and Western Medical Massage Therapy. Our graduates are highly respected and skilled, with an abundance of professional opportunities and, with the recent enactment of legislation in NJ offering state certification to massage therapists, the profession of massage therapy has never been more attractive."

Massage students treat overburdened workersPARSIPPANY — Joan Pippi had been hunched over the paperwork heap all morning riding one adrenaline wave to the next. As usual, her Inbox was deluged with projects...all due yesterday.Taking another belt of caffeine, she slumped back over the latest Crises du Jour. Her back ached, her eyes burned, but she worked straight through yet another lunch to meet the deadline.A turn-of-the-century sweatshop? No, just another day in the trenches in corporate America.With distended work weeks and less time for relaxation, the average employee has been carrying quite an unwieldy burden. To deal with the stress, some have turned toward alternative therapies, such as chiropractics, acupuncture, and herbal supplements.At the forefront of this holistic approach to living is massage therapy. Massage therapy spans many disciplines, including shiatsu (Japanese for "finger pressure") and Swedish, the most well-known style, which uses long, fluid strokes."There's not one best type of massage," says Louise Mahoney, co-director of the North Jersey Massage Training Center in Parsippany. "It's whatever the client needs at that moment. I always ask what their goal is before I start the session. Is it relaxation? Are they training for a marathon? Most people don't now which type of massage they want. They just know how they're feeling."The neck, back and shoulders, according to Mahoney are where people tend to held their tension. "This is an all 'heads-forward' society — commuting, reading, working at desk jobs. Our culture is way out of balance, with people working 60-hour weeks. In other countries, people work to have a living. We live to work. We're crazed."Fawn Meisner, a student at the school, agrees. "Corporate America really has a problem with posture. A person's well-being can get lost on the way."A former pianist and dancer, Meisner turned to massage therapy as a way to tend to her mother's cancer and diabetes."I was reading literature on massage therapy for cancer patients," Meisner recalls. "Light, therapeutic touch has been shown to benefit people who've just received chemo or radiation. I needed to learn how it's applied. I needed to be shown."There is no "typical" student at the school, according to Mahoney."We've had people from all walks of life — nuns, nurses, accountants, VPs — people ready for a different focus, who want to make a difference with their lives."As part of their ongoing community service efforts, the school's students provide massages for oncology patients and the medical staff at University Hospital in Newark.The school offers several adult education programs to the general public, including reflexology, ta'i chi/chi kung and Massage for Partners. Some workshops are free of charge. Mediation workshops are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays from 8 to 10 p.m. and Nutrition workshops are held the fourth Saturday of every month from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Also, as a part of the required massage therapy internship for certification, students offer an hour-long massage.Suburban Life

Local massage therapists volunteer at Ground ZeroPARSIPPANY — Teams of massage therapists from the North Jersey Massage Training Center and New Jersey Massage were allowed into the Port Authority mobile command center in NYC this week to put their expert hands to work. Manhattan Community College was the staging area where exhausted crews of rescue workers primarily Port Authority Police received these professional massages.Annemarie Bomhoff, M.T. of Toms River, a graduate and wife of Port Authority Police Officer Michael Bomhoff, seized the opportunity to serve and in a concerted effort with the school's Registrar, Christine Rahoche, coordinated a steady stream of enthusiastic massage volunteers. "The schools graduates have been offering their services by the dozens and we have been dispatching teams into N.Y. and over the American Red Cross headquarters in Fairfield as well. This is what massage therapists are all about, trying to serve and inspire others by improving the quality of their patient's lives," Rahoche said.Theresa Dupre, a massage therapist at the Parsippany treatment center and a volunteer for the N.Y. massage team, summed it up by relating a moving conversation she had while working on a Port Authority Sgt. named John. "He thanked me and said he loved getting these massages because this was a time to unwind and get away, even if just for a couple of minutes and try to forget what he had just seen."Suburban Life

Massage therapists lend a helping hand to rescuers Volunteers who trained at center in Parsippany put their skills to workPARSIPPANY — Larry Heisler is proud to say his father spent 10 years of his life helping to build the World Trade Center. He was equally proud when dozens of his graduates called last week asking to help those rescue workers toiling to find survivors in the rubble.Heisler's students wanted to put their expert hands to work, massaging exhausted crews who have worked tirelessly at the site where the towers used to stand.It took a week of persistence, but a handful of professional massage therapists from the North Jersey Massage Training Center were allowed into the Port Authority mobile command center in New York City Thursday night, said Christine Rahoche, a graduate and the center's registrar."This is the nature of who we are; we're in a giving field," Rahoche said.In addition, therapist Lisa Bengtson, of Hackettstown, was dispatched Friday to the American Red Cross operation in Fairfield to assist those manning phone lines. Michelle Waldron of Newton and Michele Sager of Morris Plains went to the New Jersey Blood Bank in East Orange Friday. Others spent time at Newark Airport."You feel helpless when a disaster like this happens," Heisler said.At least 25 calls came in from graduates the day of the disaster, he said, but no organizations were letting them in at first.Ann Marie Bomhof, a Toms River graduate, was able to connect with the Port Authority to get a few therapists into their command center Thursday. More are expected to return this Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, Rahoche said.Massage therapists will also be at the Parsippany Fall Festival Sunday, Sept. 23, offering free massages and taking donations for a relief fund.The 21-year-old training school and spa is among dozens of Morris County organizations that have volunteered their efforts in the past 10 days.The Daily Record